{"id":303094,"date":"2026-02-17T20:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303094\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:42:11","slug":"colorectal-cancer-is-rising-in-younger-adults-heres-who-is-most-at-risk-and-symptoms-to-watch-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303094\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here’s who is most at risk and symptoms to watch for"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Colorectal cancer is a threat not just to older adults but increasingly to young men and women<\/a>, too. It\u2019s now the top cancer killer of Americans younger than 50.<\/p>\n

The deaths of \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek\u201d actor James Van Der Beek at 48 last week, and \u201cBlack Panther\u201d star Chadwick Boseman at 43 in 2020, highlight the risk for younger adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now starting to see more and more people in the 20-, 30- and 40-year-old range developing colon cancer. At the beginning of my career, nobody that age had colorectal cancer,\u201d said Dr. John Marshall of Georgetown University\u2019s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, who has been a cancer doctor for more than three decades. <\/p>\n

That trend \u201cis shaking us all, to be blunt,\u201d said Marshall, who is also medical consultant to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about colorectal cancer \u2014 at any age \u2014 and how to protect yourself.<\/p>\n

How common is colorectal cancer?<\/p>\n

More than 158,000 cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Among all ages, it\u2019s the nation\u2019s second leading cancer killer, behind lung cancer \u2014 expected to claim more than 55,000 lives this year.<\/p>\n

For the population overall, cases and deaths have inched down in recent years. That\u2019s thanks in part to screening tests that can spot tumors early, when they\u2019re easier to treat \u2014 or even prevent them if precancerous growths are found and removed.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s most at risk?<\/p>\n

The vast majority of colorectal cancer cases and deaths still are in people 50 and older. That older age group has seen the most progress, with deaths dropping by about 1.5% a year over the last decade, according to cancer society statistics.<\/p>\n

But while it\u2019s still relatively rare in the under-50 crowd, their colorectal cancer diagnoses have been rising since the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

And last month, cancer society researchers reported that colorectal cancer mortality in Americans under 50 had increased by 1.1% a year since 2005, becoming the deadliest cancer in that age group. This year, the society estimates 3,890 people under age 50 will die of it.<\/p>\n

Risk factors at any age include obesity, lack of physical activity, a diet high in red or processed meat and low in fruits and vegetables, smoking, heavy alcohol use, having inflammatory bowel disease or a family history of colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n

Marshall advises everyone to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. \u201cMeat\u2019s not evil\u201d but eat less of it, he said.<\/p>\n

And a recent study found that a three-year exercise program improved survival in colon cancer patients and reduced cancer recurrence.<\/p>\n

What are the symptoms of colorectal cancer?<\/p>\n

Symptoms include blood in stool or rectal bleeding; changes in bowel habits such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of stool that lasts more than a few days; unintended weight loss; and cramps or abdominal pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ignore symptoms. Get it checked,\u201d Marshall stressed. Survival is far more likely when colorectal cancer is diagnosed early, before it spreads.<\/p>\n

When to get screened for colorectal cancer<\/p>\n

Medical guidelines say the average person should start getting screened at age 45 \u2014 too late for some young adults.<\/p>\n

People known to be at higher risk are supposed to talk with their doctors about whether to start screening even earlier.<\/p>\n

How often people need to get checked depends on the type of screening they choose. There are a variety of options, including yearly stool-based tests or colonoscopies that may be done every 10 years as long as no problems were found. There\u2019s also a newer blood test for adults 45 or older.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s causing the colorectal cancer rise in younger adults?<\/p>\n

No one knows what\u2019s causing the rise in cases in younger adults. But Georgetown\u2019s Marshall said many young patients lack common risk factors. He wonders if changes in young people\u2019s gut bacteria \u2014 the microbiome \u2014 might play a role.<\/p>\n

Also, where cancer occurs along the question mark-shaped colon \u2014 it starts on one side of the abdomen and swoops to the other before ending with the rectum \u2014 influences how aggressive it is and how it\u2019s treated. Marshall said there\u2019s a marked difference in where younger and older people\u2019s tumors tend to strike, another clue being explored.<\/p>\n

Neergaard writes for the Associated Press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Colorectal cancer is a threat not just to older adults but increasingly to young men and women, too.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2909,59063,4930,23254,4596,8948,142320,103,61,60,143145,2096,4597,39858,4931,40235,742,2099],"class_list":{"0":"post-303094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-age","9":"tag-american-cancer-society","10":"tag-case","11":"tag-colorectal-cancer","12":"tag-death","13":"tag-fruit","14":"tag-georgetown-university","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-marshall","19":"tag-people","20":"tag-risk","21":"tag-stool","22":"tag-symptom","23":"tag-vegetable","24":"tag-year","25":"tag-young-adult"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}